ꨄ︎ 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞 ꨄ︎

|| part 24 ||

// two years later //

"Hey sweetie, I'm in the store with the candles for Nick's cake. Have you picked it up yet?"

"I'm on my way to Bad now. See you later. Love you."

"Love you more." Clay hung up and drove to Bad's house.

A lot has happened in recent years. Niki and Minx are married, Bad and Skeppy have bought a house. And Nick will be 16 this year.

Dream pushed the bell and waiting for answer. "Hey Clay. Come in." Bad let the blond in and led him to the kitchen. "Wow Bad it looks great."

"Thank you, I worked hard on it."
They were interrupted by the sound of Dream's phone. "Oh, excuse me." he said to his friend. He looked at his phone for a moment. "Oh God. Totally forgot. I had to pick Nick up from school. Can you bring the cake tomorrow?" Dream asked as he ran to the door. "Sure, give George and Nick my regards!"

-

Niki held Minx's hands as she pulled her to the couch. "Babe. Uhm... you know how we talk all the time about how sorry we are that we didn't have a brother or sister for Karl?" Minx looked surprised. "Yes?"

Niki gave her an flyer. "I found it at the doctor's last week and.. I was just wondering what you thought."

"W-Well.."

"We certainly don't have to but...I think it's a nice step in our lives... just think about it." Minx took the flyer and examined it.

-

Clay was in the car on the way to the school where Nick, Karl and Q were being picked up. Clay parked the car and waited in the car. He took out his phone and went to Nick's contact.

He looked up for a moment, and his jaw dropped through the view in front of him. Right outside the school gates, Nick and Karl were holding hands and lips against each other. Q was on his phone next to them. Q looked up briefly and pushed Nick's arm, mouthing out as he called the brunet.

Nick looked up and Q pointed to the car with the blonde. The two quickly let go of each other when Clay looked away. The three walked to the school. The car door opened and the three got in.

"Hey."

"Hey."

They shared an awkward silence. Clay cleared his throat as he started the car. The four sat in silence.

Nick sighed. "So you're going to tell my dad?" Nick asked. "Why would I?" Clay asked. Nick looked surprised. "May I ask a question?" Clay asked. "Are you like a couple?" Karl blushed but smiled softly. "Yes." Nick said as he flushed red. "Good. I'm happy for you." Clay meant it.

-

They got home and everyone was already there "Happy Birthday!" Everyone said. Nick threw his stuff on the floor and laughed. "This is great, thanks guys."

Some garlands went up on the wall and there were snacks on the table. It all looked so cozy.

-

The day was good, Nock received gifts and was pleasantly surprised by the people he loves. Or almost all the people he loves.

Nick looked up to see Clay standing alone in the kitchen. He pours out some more drinks. Nick felt a gurgling sensation in his stomach, his heart pounding in his chest, and his hands began to sweat. "I'm going to help." he said as he got up with a wonky smile and walked to the kitchen. George looked surprised and looked in the direction of the kitchens. Seeing his blond lover standing and feeling his heart skip a beat he smiled at Nick and touched Niki's hand to show how proud he was of Nick's decision.

"Are they getting along?" Niki asked as Nick disappeared into the kitchen.

"I'm not sure, Nick can still be hostile to Clay at times but at times like this I think that's just appearances?"

Niki looked at him in surprise. "Hostile? George, that's not normal if your kid still hates your boyfriend after so long."
George took a deep breath. "They don't hate each other, he's just…"

"He's just what?" Niki asked. But to be honest, George himself didn't know. He had a theory, but he didn't want to believe it himself.

That was just not possible.

-

Nick walked into the kitchen, he didn't even look at the blonde. He just stood next to him and showed his presence with a cough. "Oh, hey." Clay said kindly. Nick who was just a little shorter nodded his head yes as a sign of hello.

"Are you okay? Do you need anything?" asked the blonde as he picked up the ice pack from the counter and walked over to the freezer to put it back.

"No thanks." Clay nodded intelligibly and started to get back up. He straightened up, turn and bumped his head against the kitchen lamp. "Oh God." He rubbed his forehead and held the lamp steady. Nick let a chuckle  escape his lips. Clay laughed to himself and walked back to Nick. "Sorry." he excused himself as he covered his mouth with his hand.

Clay didn't take it as an insult and continued with the drinks. "So... Did you want to talk about something?" asked the blond, his eyes flicked quickly to the brunet but then remained focused on the drinks.

Nick was silent for a moment, but still got to the point of coming to the kitchen. "...what you saw, at school...that was...I-I mean-...we weren't-"

Clay interrupted. "Nick. I know what you wanna say, and if you're not ready to talk about it. That's fine. I won't tell anyone."

Nick looked at him in surprise. But at the same time a weight fell from his shoulder in relief. "Are you serious?" he asked with a small smile. "Of course, I know what it's like to love in secret.

"Hey, you're still with my dad, no other affairs huh." said the brunet with a hint of joke in his voice. Clay laughed. "I'm talking about my teenage years, I would never do that to your father." Nick smiled and helped Clay carry the glasses into the living room.

~•●𒊹︎︎︎ꨄ︎𒊹︎︎︎●•~

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